Ordered My First MiHec Mold!

[Phlier]

Ordered the .356-125 FRN (https://www.mp-molds.com/product/357-359-125-flat-round-nose-flat-base-8-cavity-aluminum-no-lube-groove-mold/) flat base, no lube groove, 8 cavity aluminum mold last night. Already tracks as being picked up by DHL. Now *that's* fast shipping! MP had that mold on sale for ~73 bucks, right up until the time that I actually ordered the mold. : / It took me that long to convince the wife that I *really* wanted this mold for Christmas. Ah well, no big deal, as I really don't mind supporting a guy that makes high quality products for the shooting sports.

I've been shopping for a new 9mm mold for several months now. I kept waffling back and forth between the MP mold I ordered, and a very similar design from Accurate. Two primary differences: 1. The Accurate mold has a bevel base, which I love because I load up a minimum of 1k rounds of 9mm each week, and the bevel base makes starting the boolit into the case so much easier. 2. The Accurate mold came with a max of five cavities.

Since I cast so many 9mm per week, I decided it was better to be casting three more boolits per throw than the convenience of the bevel base, so the MP mold won out in the end.

I ordered the .356 diameter version, as that diameter is listed as being what it throws with wheel weights. I use a tin rich alloy that usually throws between two and three thou more than what manufacturers list as what the mold throws with wheel weights. So I'm expecting this mold to throw .001 to .002 over the published .356. Add PC over the top, and it might get me to .358 (which is what I use in all three of my 9mm's) without having to size the boolits. And I can always reduce the tin a bit to bring the as-cast diameter down a bit, too.

I actually wanted the truncated cone version of this boolit, but it's out of stock, and Christmas is in 23 days... Not that I'm counting. So the LRN won out.

After reading about how highly regarded MP molds are, I'm very excited.

Sorry for the useless post, but you guys are the only ones I can talk about this with, as my wife just gives me a bored look every time I talk to her about boolit casting. :)

You guys that have bought MP/MiHec molds... how long does DHL usually take to get the molds to you? Not that I'm anxious to get it or anything... ;)

[RKJ]

I've got 2 of his molds in brass and am on a GB for a 3rd right now. The bullets fall out easy and those molds make me look like I know what I'm doing. You love it.

[white eagle]

You will never go wrong getting a mold from Miha @MP
some of the best molds being made today a top pick
first rate business and machinist extraordinaire customer service second to none
DHL however I will hold comment

[Beagle333]

It usually takes 9-10 days shipping for me. Enjoy the mold, his molds are a pleasure to cast with.

[DHDeal]

My luck was similar on shipping. I ordered one on a Friday and got it the next Friday. The last mold was ordered on a Monday and it showed up Friday afternoon. That was last month.

I had read all of the DHL horror stories and was expecting the molds to take a few weeks. I also didn't believe the expected delivery date, but DHL told the truth.

The molds are very very nice and cast accurate bullets. I followed advice from the forum about heat cycling, but I'm not positive it makes too much difference. One thing that was a fact for me was I didn't get a lot of good bullets until the 3rd casting session. I knew the way the mold "acted" on my 3rd session that I was going to have perfect bullets. These were both 640 style brass molds.

[Greg S]

At least you only bought one. When there is a second MP mold in the area, they begin to rapidly multiply in short order. Welcome to the sickness.

MiHec has a great marketing program now. I went to his new web sight to pay for a group buy mold and threw another in the cart to boot. I justified it by convincing myself I was saving shipping on the second mold, lol. :happy dance:

[Petander]

At least you only bought one. When there is a second MP mold in the area, they begin to rapidly multiply in short order.

I can confirm the above.

Miha's Black Friday campaign said "until saturday" ,based on that I wasn't sure if saturday was included or not... and ordered a mold on friday. I definitely don't NEED that mold but these molds are so nice to cast with, I seem to buy them for the joy of casting alone.

[Phlier]

Thanks for the replies, Gents. :)

The mold just left Germany early this morning.

I had actually been planning on getting two molds during his sale, but was a bit slow to pull the trigger and the prices went back up before I ordered. But even his full prices are extremely reasonable when compared to the other "good stuff" mold makers.

As I mentioned, it's an aluminum mold, not brass. So I was thinking of giving it three 30 minute, 375F cycles through the toaster oven (using all four heating elements, with the convection fan for even heating... don't want to warp a brand new aluminum mold) before casting with it. Sound about right?

[DHDeal]

You can if you like. All of my aluminum molds are Accurate Molds and I only cleaned them well and started casting. Similar to the MP brass molds, they took a couple sessions before they started dropping lots of perfect bullets. Maybe heat cycling would have helped, maybe not.

Seems most molds I've purchased like a couple sessions before lots of perfect bullets start raining (even my steel BPCR bullet molds). Using a good hot plate really helps, assuming the temp setting/rheostat isn't a lying SOB....

[Petander]

Clean is good. I use brakekleen, then hot water & Fairy to wash brakekleen residue.

I think of mold heat cycling as a running-in period for a car. Some find it makes sense,some don't.

[Wheelguns 1961]

There is a good writeup on their website about using their molds.

[Petander]

There is a good writeup on their website about using their molds.

Yes,here you go , Sir Bird: https://www.mp-molds.com/tipstricks/general-advice-for-using-brass-hp-hollow-point-moulds/

I got the 358429 "Black Friday mold" today. Here are my first bullets after four heat cycles, mold was on the plate ~30 min each time,maybe a tad more for cooling.

https://i.postimg.cc/59sWYvSG/IMG-20191204-181516-085.jpg

I'm watching TV now after casting ~50 bullets. Letting the mold cool down again. I'll cast maybe 100 next, the a break again and cast 200,most probably those 200 are raining out the mold.

Good luck with your mold,Sir Bird.

[OS OK]

Miha makes such an incredible 'work of art' that my casts even come out of the mould already PC'd...
Just holding his work in your hand makes you giggle and drool...
His cast shoot faster & never miss the 'X ring'...

https://i.imgur.com/zTk53mz.jpg

"Well . . . maybe I exaggerate a wee-lil-bit... :bigsmyl2: ...but I love his moulds!

[Phlier]

Oh man, as if I wasn't excited enough, and then you guys post pictures!

@Petander, thank you.. both for the link, and also for your (once again) excellent photography. Those boolits look beautiful. Sir Bird gives it the "head crest of approval." ;)

@OS OK That's a beautiful bucket 'o joy you have there. Do I see Smoke's clear PC on a few there? If so, how do you like it? I've heard that it's one of his thinner coating powders, and I am looking to try and get the thinnest PC coat I can.

You guys are killin' me! And I'm not saying that like it's a *bad* thing. ;)

Edit: Mold just left Cincinnati! DHL estimates this Monday for delivery, but if it's able to hit Las Vegas by tomorrow, there's a good chance I'll see it Friday. :)

Yet Another Edit: One thing I forgot to ask... will Lee handles work with his molds?

[OS OK]

Yes it is the clear gloss coat but I got it from a PC contractor up here in the hills, it's not from Smoke but...his stuff is the same.
I think the clear does coat the thinnest and most even of all the colors. Though colors will apply evenly too if you shake or tap off all the excess PC on the cast. One thing about the clear is that it prolly covers the best of all the colored PC's I've used & you can tell instantly if it's covered well, this is clear gloss in the picture below...

https://i.imgur.com/iKrnAVr.jpg

These are clear coated and even if the coating is so thin, I've not had any leading of my barrels...at standard velocities for pistols that is...

https://i.imgur.com/uJOnM9b.jpg

Copper and Brass coat very thin also...

https://i.imgur.com/2QybcYl.jpg

[Phlier]

@OS OK Thank you very much! Those boolits look way too good to shoot! Now I can't decide between clear, brass, or copper. Might have to order a sample pack of all of 'em from Smoke.

I'd been using Eastwood and Harbor Freight PC up until just recently when I got my first Smoke's powder in Flame Red. Got a full pound of it, but it's going quick... I figure I'll get about 10k rounds of 124 gr 9mm's out of that pound, and I'm at about 8k rounds into it right now.

After using Eastwood and HF powders for a couple years, I thought I was getting pretty good results. Then I got Smokes powder. What an eye opener. Hadn't been on the forums for a while, but seeing the results I get/got with Smokes, and seeing pics of what you guys are getting I realized much better results could be obtained.

New powder, a new oven, and getting caught up on two years worth of forum posts have resulted in much better looking and shooting PC boolits.

I've run a bit over one ton of alloy through my favorite 9mm mold, so I figure I could justify a new mold, what with all that money the old mold has saved me and all. ;)

Really appreciate all the information, gents, thank you very much.

[DHDeal]

FWIW, I just got some of the Translucent Copper from Smokes and for me one coat is blotchy. Second coat made it more copper but the bullets were too fat and sizing them mostly closed up the crimp groove. One coat gave full coverage but I was trying for a "copper" bullet. As I've seen others mention elsewhere, the Translucent Copper is mostly clear anyway.

The clear is very good stuff and for me is the easiest to coat. I have a habit of mixing a color I call bloody stool and clear is 1/3 of it (1 part clear, 1 part bacon grease, and 1 part red). I like how you can mix it and get some of the solid colors to be translucent.

[Phlier]

FWIW, I just got some of the Translucent Copper from Smokes and for me one coat is blotchy. Second coat made it more copper but the bullets were too fat and sizing them mostly closed up the crimp groove. One coat gave full coverage but I was trying for a "copper" bullet. As I've seen others mention elsewhere, the Translucent Copper is mostly clear anyway.

The clear is very good stuff and for me is the easiest to coat. I have a habit of mixing a color I call bloody stool and clear is 1/3 of it (1 part clear, 1 part bacon grease, and 1 part red). I like how you can mix it and get some of the solid colors to be translucent.

Thanks for that... I'll have to try a bit of mixing n matching. :)


Quite a few shipping companies have started using the United States Postal Service as their "Last mile" carrier... the one that actually handles the delivery of the shipment to the customer's door.

UPS handles this quite gracefully; their package tracking syncs and plays well with the USPS, and you're able to track the package after it changes hands from UPS to USPS very well.

Unfortunately, it appears that DHL hasn't gotten that part figured out. It now simply tracks as "forwarded for delivery." There's no way to track its progress through the USPS.

I now understand why a few of you guys aren't too happy with DHL.

Ah well... it gets here when it gets here. : /

[Phlier]

The mold arrived yesterday! Ordered Sunday, arrived Friday. Wow, thanks Miha!

I couldn't stand the wait of heat cycling it through the toaster oven, so I just cleaned it up, lubed it, and started casting.

I did heat cycle it twice while casting... ran the 20 pound pot through it, then allowed it to cool down as everything re-melted. I ran the pot a second time, and started having perfect boolits fall out about half way through the second run.

One little interesting thing happened, though... As I was nearing the end of the first run through the pot, the sprue lead started sticking to the top of the sprue plate. It started as an intermittent problem, but has progressed to the point now where the sprue lead is welding itself to the top of the sprue plate with every throw. Well, *almost* every throw. The interesting thing is that this doesn't happen until the mold has reached the correct casting temperature. IMO, that's when the boolits stop looking shiny like mirrors, and are just *slightly* frosty, with perfect fill-out. You guys know the look I'm talking about. But yeah, the lead doesn't start to weld itself to the sprue plate until the mold itself has heated up to the correct casting sweet spot temperature.

Miha sent the mold with the plate perfectly adjusted, and it still is; it completely passes the light test (no light visible through the sprue plate to mold top interface when looking from the side at a powerful light source). The countersunk holes on the plate aren't completely smooth, but that isn't where the problem is anyway. The problem is that the lead is welding itself to the top (flat) part of the sprue plate. The plate is extremely well polished... just the slightest machining marks are still visible. The lead isn't forming a "rivet head" type situation from underneath, either; it cuts perfect boolit bases, with no lead left on the underside of the sprue plate that could form a "rivet head" preventing the sprue lead from being released.

I've tried cutting the sprue earlier and later, but sprue cooling time isn't the issue. I didn't want to cut the sprue so early that the base of the boolit smeared lead across the top of the mold, but I bet I came really close a time or two.

You can actually see the area on the sprue plate where the lead is welding itself. Maybe I'll post a picture of it later today.

I've been using graphite to prevent the sticking problem, but I gotta admit, it's a bit of a hassle to stop casting (losing the mold temperature sweet spot) long enough to put pencil lead on the problem areas of the plate.

I've searched this site (and others) for guys having the same issue, and have found a bunch of information on the problem. Unfortunately, none of those situations apply here. At least as far as I can tell, anyway.

I'm hoping this problem will eventually go away as the mold ages, but until then it's a bit of a bummer. If it doesn't go away, I think I'll buy a second sprue plate for the mold... if he offers them for sale separately from the mold.

On the bright side, the boolits this mold throws are fantastic! I can't wait to shoot them. IMO, this design is almost the perfect design for 9mm. If it had a bevel base, it *would* be the perfect 9mm boolit! :)

[Wheelguns 1961]

I keep a rag with a little 2 cycle oil on it when casting. When I start casting, with the cavities full, I will wipe the top of the mold, bottom and top of sprue plate. This will stop lead from sticking. I do this occasionally during the casting session and anytime I get lead on the top of the mold. Don’t use a lot of oil just enough so the rag feels a little wet.

[Phlier]

252533

I guarantee there is no zinc in the alloy.

[Phlier]

I keep a rag with a little 2 cycle oil on it when casting. When I start casting, with the cavities full, I will wipe the top of the mold, bottom and top of sprue plate. This will stop lead from sticking. I do this occasionally during the casting session and anytime I get lead on the top of the mold. Don’t use a lot of oil just enough so the rag feels a little wet.

I'll give that a try, thanks for the suggestion. :) That sounds like it would be a lot faster (less mold cooling) than going over the areas with pencil graphite.

I only own around ten molds, but I've never had this problem before with any of them.

[Wheelguns 1961]

I do it with all my molds.

[OS OK]

This was my first brass mould also...so...I thought I might go full 'OCD' preparing the mould for service.

I boiled it with dish soap...brought it to a roaring boil and let it go for 15 minutes 2 times with soapy water, then boiled a third time with fresh water.
Each time refilling the pot under the faucet and allowing the cutting oils to flow out over the top of the pan...


https://i.imgur.com/D25Xikw.jpg

After that I heat cycled it 3 times in the oven...


https://i.imgur.com/XNqWFYS.jpg

Then when it was cool, I lubed it up as I assembled the pins in the order I want, put powdered graphite on them and rubbed it into the pins well and put it back in a different oven to preheat to 350ºf for casting...


https://i.imgur.com/Mbby5zo.jpg

No smoke in the cavities...no mould release...no magic....hmmmm, but you do have to hold your mouth just right!

[Phlier]

OS OK, love it!

My new mold is aluminum, but only because it wasn’t offered in brass or steel. I can imagine an 8 cavity mold made out of brass would be darn heavy for my old arms.

I also did a very thorough cleaning, but not quite to that level. :)

I sure hope my little issue isn’t coming across as a complaint. That’s not my intention at all. The quality of workmanship on this mold is jaw dropping. I thought the old Lyman 42943(?)1 mold that my Dad gave me was fantastic quality. And it is. But words just don’t do justice to describe the level of craftsmanship Miha puts into his molds; you just gotta see one in person to really appreciate it.

I really appreciate the help, suggestions and info you guys have provided. I thought that I had ran into every problem a guy could have while casting boolits, but apparently not, as I’d never had sprues get welded to a sprue plate before.

[OS OK]

I wish that I could tell you exactly what caused the welding but have no idea other than something in the pores of the metal that didn't come out when you cleaned it. I think as our moulds get used over and over again, they form a microscopic carbon patina in the cavities and on the top of the sprue that won't allow the lead to cling to the surface of the metal...other than that guess, I have no idea.

No matter how long you cast you'll always come up against something that'll make you scratch your head?

[Petander]

252533

I guarantee there is no zinc in the alloy.

Sometimes my Mihec sprue plate looks like that.

But it never became a welding/sticking problem. I thought those traces came from cutting a tad early.

I like your "full pot at once heat cycle" - method, Sir Bird. :)

[Phlier]

No matter how long you cast you'll always come up against something that'll make you scratch your head?

Sure seems that way.

The wife said I could have this evening to cast, so in a couple hours from now, I'm planning on sitting at the casting bench until the wee hours of the morning working on this. Hopefully I'll get a couple thousand keepers along the way, even if the sprue issue isn't solved along the way.

[Phlier]

Sometimes my Mihec sprue plate looks like that.

But it never became a welding/sticking problem. I thought those traces came from cutting a tad early.

I'll try tacking on some additional time and see if it helps... I did try adding a bit of extra time, but didn't want to lose the mold's "sweet spot" temperature.


I like your "full pot at once heat cycle" - method, Sir Bird. :)
Throwing 8 boolits at a time, that full pot goes quick! :)

[Phlier]

Well, gents, using Wheelguns 1961's suggestion, I was able to keep the pot running all night. Every once in a while, the sprue would start to weld to the sprue plate again, and a quick (and very thin) swipe of mold lube oil on the plate solved (or at least covered up) the issue. I was concerned that using oil right where the alloy flows would result in wrinkled boolits, but it turns out that they weren't affected at all.

The new mold is dropping perfect little boolits that need very little persuasion to drop out. Ended up with about 2.5k of 'em. Today they'll get PC'd, sized (my son isn't going to get out of sizing duty today :) ), and loaded.

[Phlier]

Just a quick follow up...

So I've run about 50 lbs of alloy through my new MP mold... yeah, I've spent more hours with this mold in the last week than I would really care to admit. ;)

Starting about ten lbs of alloy ago, I stopped having the problem of sprues becoming welded to the top plate. I still have no idea why it did it in the first place, but now for some reason it has completely stopped being an issue. The only problem I have is that occasionally I won't get completely perfect bases, but that's only when the mold cools off to just below the perfect temperature. This mold has a very narrow operating temperature window, and I have to maintain a perfect cadence. But as long as I *do* maintain that perfect cadence the boolits are just wonderful.

The mold didn't start casting *really* well until it had about five full temperature cycles on it. So my advice to anyone looking at getting an 8 cavity aluminum mold from MP would be to do at least three full heat cycles (from room temp up to 375F-400F, hold for 15 minutes, allow to cool to room temp) before casting with it.

I'm really looking forward to acquiring more of Miha's art work.

[baragasam]

His shop definitely puts out great molds. I personally have a brass 4 cav 147gr HP 9mm mold from him. Casted couple thousand bullets with no issues at all. Just need to make sure the mold is prepped and taken care of afterwards.

[Petander]

Just need to make sure the mold is prepped and taken care of afterwards.

What do you do to a MP brass mold afterwards?

Now in winter it's very dry here,I put my molds on a shelf. Do nothing to them. Heat them up and lube for the next session. No oil,no bags,boxes,no cleaning (I don't smoke).